Golf tees



Sept. 3, 1957 R. KAPLAN GOLF TEES Filed May 5. 195a INVENTOR.

ROBERT KAPLAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent GOLF TEES Robert Kaplau, Southfield City, Mich. Application May 3, 1956, Serial No. 582,418

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-202) This application relates to golf tees, light, compact, inexpensive, unbreakable, adjustable for high and low tee, and altogether highly useful.

A preferred form of the tee is shown in the appended drawings.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view, partly in section, and Fig. 2 is a plan View, of a tee in high tee condition.

Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views but showing the tee in low tee condition.

The drawings show the tee as being of one piece of rubber or the like flexible material, and comprising a semi-reversible hollow dome-shaped annular base having an outer portion 11 and an inner portion 12 adjacent which is a solid material ball-supporting post 14 centrally mounted on the base. In high tee position of the base its inner portion 12 continues upwardly from the outer portion 11, but in low tee position, portion 12 pro jects downwardly from the outer portion 11, a ridge 13 then separating portions 1112.

The post has its top 15 cupped as shown and in both positions of the base the top 15 is well above the base. However, the lower end 16 of the post may be above or below the base, as shown, to provide tees of two different elevations. At all times however, the lower end 16 is not below the lower edge 17 of the base.

The lower edge of the base has an inwardly extending lip 18 for rigidifying it.

It will be noted that at no time is the post pushed down against the ground.

The solidity of the post causes the base to flex only at the juncture of its inner and outer portions, remote from the post.

"ice

The tee shown is about two (2) inches in diameter and about one and one-half (1 /2) inches high in preferred form and the post 14 is about one-half the height of the base so as to have its upper surface 15 well above the base when the base is collapsed as shown in Fig. 3, and is of molded flexible rubber preferably.

Now having disclosed my golf tee, I claim:

A one piece flexible golf tee molded of flexible material and comprising an approximately hemispherically shaped, hollow base having an open bottom and a thin wall of uniform thickness, with the wall edge defining the periphery of the open bottom of the base being a free edge and being the supporting edge of the base, and having a solid, cylindrically shaped post of considerably smaller diameter and height than the base located on the top of the base and extending vertically upwards from the base and being axially aligned with the vertical axis of the base, the junction between the base and the post being in the form of a concave fillet smoothly blending into the post and base top respectively; the tee being sufficiently rigid to provide a high level tee for a golf ball rested upon the top of the post when the tee is in its normal condition, and the tee being distortable into a self-sustatining low level tee position of sufiicient rigidity to support a golf ball rested on top of the post in a low level position, the tee base in the low level position being bent into a retrorse formation between the post and a circular line formed on the base and arranged in a plane parallel to the plane of the base supporting free edge and located approximately midway between said free edge and the top of the base to form with said fillet a circular concavity in the base completely around the post to thus provide the low level tee position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 648,956 Herrick May 8, 1900 1,152,649 Luellen Sept. 7, 1915 1,152,981 Schacht Sept. 7, 1915 1,617,232 Butler Feb. 8, 1927 1,661,513 Swett Mar. 6, 1928 2,159,893 Hansen May 23, 1939 2,457,670 Harvey Dec. 28, 1948 2,470,574 Nelson May 17, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 588,723 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1944 

